Method and apparatus for weaving



March 14, 1933.

P. MATTLER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEAVING Filed March 23, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 14, 1933. P. MATTLER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEAVING Filed March 25, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet Z P157252 MA r 71. ER

Patented Mar. 14, 1933 UNITED, STATES iporzsof PATENT. OFFICE,

- PETERMATTLER, or s r. Louis, MISSOURI, Assreuon Tommsommmws & smnxnn u I snon COMPANY, on ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION or MISSOURI,

ME'rnonANn APPARATUS non WEAVING g Application. fiidnarch 2a, 1929." SeriafNo. 349,337.

This invention pertainsto a method and apparatus forweavinga web or fabric of strips, such as strips of leather. ;1 f

.In the manufacture of shoes, and more particularly ladies shoes, a shoe constructed of a woven fabric of leatherstrips has be,- come very popular. It is one of the -pur-, poses of this invention to provide a method and machine by means of whicha suitable woven leather fabric may: be made in a simple manner and without prohibitive expense. v V

A further object of this inventionqis to A provide such'method and. apparatuswhereby 1 -'a continuous warp of leather strips .or strands may be supplied to a suitable loom out ofwhich the woven leather fabric may be formed.

' which the splicing of individual strips con.- stituting the warp may be obviated. V

Another object is to provide a methodand.

apparatus by which a continuous broad loom.

vice in which. the material may be out against a suitable backing so as to insure smooth edges to the strips; ,7

Another object. is to provide improved weaving mechanism by means of which the flat strips may be handled in a simple and 'eration. v Further objects will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a side view of a machine embodying this invention; 7

Figure 2 is a plan view of'the same; Figure 3 is a rear view ofa portion'of the same, taken about on line 3-3 of Figure 1; t Figure 4 is a detail front view-of one of the heddles; A y

- Figure 5 is a detail of the mechanism for winding up the web; and

Figure 6 is a detail sectional View through the cutter shaft and'roller, illustrating the,

cutting operation without a. backing.

Another object is to provide a method in i the machine is a sub-frame 1 1 in which is convenient manner during the weaving opt 'tlng discs 18. The discs 18 are spaced apart Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a. frame having a superstructure 2 on which are mounted, in the usual manner, a pair of heddles '3 operated by treadles 4: in; the usualmanner. A sill or support 5 on the front of the machine supports the woven fabric: which passes thereov'er to be wound on a suitable roll 6. A batten 7 pivoted at 8 on the frame may be of any suitable .construction. 1

Mounted on the rear of the machine is a reel 9 upon which a broad band 10. ofleather 1' or other suitable material is wound. 'Theband 10 may be. of any material ofwhich.

the finished fabric is to be composed. In casesof such material as leather, which comes as hides in relatively short lengths, the band 10 may be madeup of a series of such lengths suitably matched and spliced. to gether. A second reel 11 is mounted on the frame 1 and carries. a similar band 12 of suitable backing material, such as paper or, the like, which is used for-backing the band 10 during the cutting operation, as will presently be more fully described. The bands w 7. 10 and 12 pass upwardly from their rolls Another object is to provide such a ole-.

through a guide 13 ontherear of the frame 1 to the cutting roll. A v

' Mounted onthe upper part of the rear of mounted a backing roll 15 adapted to rotate, on a shaft 16 having bearings. in the frame 1 1-. Mounted above the shaft16 is. a shaft 17 which carries a series of sharp edged cut- I at intervals such as-to provide thedesired width for the cut strips. The roll 15 may be constructed of iron orlsteel, in which case theband 12, of paper or the like, is made to, pass over the roll below the band 10, so that the cutting discs 18, after cutting through. the band 10, may cut intothe paper, thereby providing a clean-cut edge for the leather strips. v

Mounted on a stub shaft 19 on-the frame.

1 1 is a ratchet wheel 20. A lever 21 pivoted at 22 on the frame 14 carries'a pair of pawls 23 adapted to engage the ratchet 20 in such a manner that by swinging the lever 2-1up' anddown on its.pivot.22 the'pawls 23 willl ifi operate to rotate the ratchet and its shaft 19. The shaft 19 is geared to the shaft 16 so as to rotate the latter for feedingthe material. The material is cut into strips as 5 a is ad by the roll 15.

The frame 14: is so positioned on the loom frame 1 that the cut strips 24 may be passed directly to the heddles 3 so as to form the warp from which the woven material is made. f j

The construction of the heddles 3 is illustrated in Figure 4. A series ofiflat straps 25 is mounted in the heddle frame in any suitable manner and properly spaced apart. In the construction illustrated, the strips are strun on bars 26 and 27 with suitable spacing seeves 28 therebetween. The middle portion 29 of .each strap 25 is twisted through ninety degrees so as to stand crosswise of the strips 24. Each portion 29 is provided with a transverse slot or notch adapted to receive one ofthe strips 24:as illustrated inFigure 4. These notches serve to hold the'strips in a position edgewise to Ithe weft when'the latter is inserted. The strips 24, where they pass between the straps 25 on the other heddle, to which they are not attached, are turned edge-wise, as shown at'24 in Figure 4. This is in orderthat 9: they may slide up and downbetween-the portions 29 of the straps 25 during the upv and down movement of the heddles 3. The

strips 24 are, therefore, free to move up and down past each other as the heddles are 5-Zraised and lowered. The weft is provided by a single strip wound upon a suitable shuttle which is passed by hand or otherwise through the shed formed in the usual mannor by the operation of the heddles. The .weft strip is shown at 30 as wound on a shuttle 31. 1 r The finished web 32 is wound upon the reel 6. Said reel is fixed to a shaft 33, which also has fixed thereto at one end a ratchet 34, as illustrated in Figure 5. An'auxiliary reel35, mounted on the shaft 33 and connected to the ratchet 34 by means of atate the reel 6 as the finished web is fedalong, so as to continuously wind the same. When the cord 37 has been paid out, it may ibe re-wound by turning the reel 35 by means of a suitable crank 40.

The roll 15 may be constructed of a softer material, such as fiber, in which case the band 10 may be out without the use of a' backing strip as illustrated in Figure 6. In

this case the: cutting edge of the disc 18 engages the roll 15.

present invention, the band 10'isfirst made up into a continuous band by suitably splic- 'priate manner to formfftheshed through which the weftstrip30 is passed by means 'of the shuttle 31." Each weft strip is suitablycompacted by, means of the batten 7 in the usual manner. The material is fed forward as desired by operating the lever 21.; g It will beseen', therefo're, that this invention provides a simple method and mecha nism for weaving fabrics-of strips or strands of leather or the like. -Supplying the material in the form of a band 10, whichmay have its component sections spliced together" before-hand, obviates the necessity of splic-' ing the'sections of each strip of the warp in order to provlde continuous strips. The

previously spliced band is cut into narrow strips which are fed directly as warp to the.

" nism by which they are separated in ,approweaving .mechanism. This is then woven into a suitable web in the usual manner. The apparatus is simple, e-asilyconstructed and may be operated by unskilled labor.

It is obvious that parts of the apparatus of'the method or construction without departing from the spirit of this invention.

. It is, therefore, to be understood that this indetails shown and/or described.

Having thus described the invention,-what is claimedis: Y

l. A machine for weavingjfabrics, comvention is not to be limited to the specific prising, means for feeding a wide band of weaving material simultaneously with a similar band of backing material, means for cutting the weaving material into a plurality of strips against the backing material, and

weaving mechanism mounted to receivethe cut strips as the warp for the fabric to be woven. 1

2. A machine for weaving fabrics, comprising, a feed roll adapted to receive a wide band of weaving material, a reel for the weaving material, a second reel to hold a similar band of backing material, a guide adapted to guide both bands to said feeding roll, a plurality of cutting discs cooperating with said roll to out the weaving material In accordance with the method of the into a plurality of strips, and weaving mechanism mounted to receive the cut strips as the warp for thefabric to be woven.

strips edgewise to the Weft.

4:. A machine for weaving fabrics, comprising, means for feeding a wide band of material and cutting the same into a plurality of strips, and weaving mechanism mounted to receive the cut strips as the warpfor the fabric to be woven including heddles having straps provided with notches adapted v to hold the warp strips edgewise to the weft.

5. In the art of weaving fabrics, the method comprising, feeding a broad band of material, and cutting the band against a band of backing material into strands to provide the warp for the woven fabric.

6. In the art of weaving fabrics, the method comprising, feeding a broad band of material with backing material therebeneathj to a cutter, and cutting the band against the backing material into strands to provide the warp for the woven fabric.

7. A machine for weaving fabrics comprising, a feed roll, means for feeding a wide band of weaving material over said roll with a band of backing material therebetween, a plurality of cutting discs cooperating with said roll to cut the weaving material against the backing material into a series of adjacent fiat strips, and weaving mechanism adapted to receive the cut strips as the warp for the fabric to be woven.

to pass theb'acking material underneath the weaving materialto said feed roll, a p1u= rality of cutting discs cooperating with said roll to cut the weaving against the backing material into a plurality of strips, and weaving mechanism mounted to receive the cut strips as the warp for the fabric to be woven.

11. A machine for Weaving fabrics, comprising, a feed roll adapted to receive a wide band of Weaving material, means for feeding a broad band of weaving material to said roll, and a plurality of cutting discs engaging said roll to cut the material into i a plurality of strips, said roll being'of relatively soft material adapted to receive the cuttingedges-of said discs. 1 5

12.xA machine for Weaving fabrics, comprising, a reel for the weaving material, a

plurality of cutting discs adapted to cut the weaving material into aplurality of strips,

and a relatively soft backing roll engaging said discs.

13. A machine for weaving fabrics, -c0n1- V prising, a reel for the Weaving material, a plurality of cutting dics adapted to cut the Weaving material into a. plurality of strips, a relatively soft backing roll engagingsaid discs,-and weaving mechanism mounted to receive the "cut strips asthe warp for the fabric to be woven. p

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature this 81st day of-October, 11928. f V f PETER MATTLER.

8. A machine for weaving fabrics comprising, a feed roll, means for feeding a wide band of weaving material over said roll with a band of backing material therebetween, a plurality of cutting discs cooperating with said roll to cut the weaving material against the backing material into a series of adjacent fiat strips, said roll being positioned so as to discard the backing material after cutting, and weaving mechanism adapted to receive the cut strips as the warp for the fabric to be woven. V

9. A machine for weaving fabrics, comprising, a feed roll adapted to receive a wide band of weaving material, a reel for the weaving material, a second reel to hold a similar band of backing material positioned to pass the backing material underneath the weaving material to said feed roll, and a plurality of cutting discs cooperating with said roll to cut the weaving material against Y the backing material into a plurality of strips.

10. A machine for weaving fabrics, comprising, a feed roll adapted to receive a wide band of weaving material, a reel for the weaving material, a second reel to hold a similar band of backing material positioned 

